For years when I lived in Istanbul most people didn't know what TT was.
Occasionally I would meet the odd Turk who had heard of TT. I was shocked. Every time it turned out that they were Track fans and knew who ATo was. I got to so fed up of explaining what Trinidad and Tobago was EVERY TIME I met people which took about two minutes, because they had simply never heard of it - that I saved time and just said I was from Canada (being a citizen).
HOwever, thanks to ATo a few people had heard of us.
Things got a little (very little) better after the 2006 WC.
VB